Either during or at the end of his first term, Trump’s presidency will end, voluntarily or not. (No matter how strong the economy might be, a president waist-deep in scandal and unable to accomplish major legislative initiatives is likely to face primary and/or general-election defeat in a reelection bid or decline to seek re-election.) When the party — or what remains of it — looks for leadership, where will it turn?

Not to the likes of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) or Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), who opportunistically backed Trump after declaring his unfitness. Not to the likes of Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who became Trump’s palace guard, vouching for Cabinet secretaries and refusing to denounce conflicts of interest and possible violations of the Constitution’s emoluments clause.

Come to think of it, any Republican who failed in his or her constitutional duty of oversight, continuing to turn a blind eye toward wrongdoing and to rationalize Trump’s conduct, should be disqualified from high office, if not shunned by conservatives.

No other Arkansas Republican member of Congress has fought so hard for national TV and radio microphone time as Cotton has done, but they all belong in the hall of dishonor as well when it comes to silence on Trump failures. Cotton's recent silence indicates perhaps some second thoughts.

More by Max Brantley

The U.S. attorney's office announced another sentencing Thursday in the multi-million-dollar scandal of theft from the Arkansas Department of Human Services' operation of feeding program for poor children.

The Arkansas Senate today passed a major part of Gov. Asa Hutchinson's $300 million highway tax bill. The vote was 27-8, the three-quarters needed, and it goes to the House.

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